Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle with potty training, or do so at a later age compared to children without ASD. This can be multifactorial in nature, and attributed to several factors they may experience — including but not limited to:

• General development delays
• Intellectual disabilities
• Challenges with communication and language
• Sensory delays
• Physical or structural abnormalities
• Stress and/or anxiety
• Dietary intake
• Constipation

Below are a few tips for potty training a child with ASD:

The post Potty Training Tips for Children with Autism appeared first on Mom.com.

I’m a stay-at-home mom and here’s my confession: I let my daughter watch way too much TV.

While the others in my mom group are coming up with art projects and building forts with their toddlers, mine is learning jingles from Daniel Tiger and getting overstimulated from watching Trolls on repeat.

The post Screw It — My Toddler Watches a Lot of TV and I Don’t Care appeared first on Mom.com.

Baby milestones come at you fast in the early years, and it can be difficult to keep up. One day baby is finally sleeping through the night, and the next they’re yanking off their diaper and running around the house naked. If you’re wondering whether or not it’s time your little streaker began using the toilet, here are some questions to ask yourself and 8 of the best potty training tips to help you decide whether to jump in now or hold off for a bit.

The post 8 Best Potty Training Tips appeared first on Mom.com.

You would think that after all of our scientific advancements that we would be able to master the task of potty training small children.

But of course, you would be wrong. Every child is so different. Even in my clan of four kids, every single child has responded to a different form of potty training. For one child, sticker charts were the key to a diaper-free existence, for another, she was proud just to do it on her own, and for another, we haven’t been able to move past naptime dryness, despite our best bribes—I mean, “attempts.” The point is, potty training can seem like a mystery, but luckily, there are a few signs to help us confused parents know if our child might be ready to start the potty training process.

The post 6 Signs Your Child Is Ready to Potty Train appeared first on Mom.com.

My oldest child is finally potty trained, kind of. There are the occasional accidents, along with bedtime and naptime diapers. But after well over a year of on-again, off-again potty training, I am happy with what we have accomplished.

Potty training has been one of the hardest things we have done so far as parents. The whole experience was especially infuriating because it was nothing like what I expected.

Going into toddlerhood, I had read so many blog posts about ditching the diapers in three days and stories of successfully potty training within days of their second birthday. So when our time came to give it a try, I had completely unrealistic expectations. We struggled for weeks, gave up, and tried again three different times before we finally had success.

What I learned over the whole process was that potty training is pretty much nothing like what I believed. Before you get started, here are 6 things you need to know that no one tells you about potty training.

The post 6 Things No One Tells You About Potty Training appeared first on Mom.com.

I did something crazy this summer — I planned a mini road trip smack in the middle of potty-training my toddler.

I know, I committed a big parenting no-no, because when you potty-train your child, you need to be DEVOTED to their schedule. There are no breaks. But did I ever say I was perfect?

Naturally, our mini trip completely threw my kiddo off her potty-training schedule, and we had some regression – and many accidents.

How can parents make a potty-training schedule easier when traveling? Did cave parents in the B.C. era struggle with potty-training schedules eons ago like they do today?

The post Help, My Daughter Regressed Big-Time With Her Potty-Training! appeared first on Mom.com.

Because I have four young children, sometimes I feel like I’m “supposed” to know all the tricks when it comes to potty training, but the truth is, my potty training style is pretty much like the rest of my parenting style—winging it as I go.

My current youngest child is 18 months old and I know that potty training and all the fun that comes along with it will soon be filling my days. And frankly? I’m kind of dreading it. Which is why I’m stockpiling a few unconventional tips for getting the job done this time. And let’s face it, by the fourth time around, Mama is just tired so I need all the help I can get.

The post Genius Potty Training Tricks From ‘Been There, Done That’ Parents appeared first on Mom.com.

They say that potty training is more difficult with boys than with girls. The reason is that boys often require a two-step process to learn to pee. They’ll start with sitting and learning to position their penis and later transition to standing. But the reality is that every child is different and there will be unique challenges no matter what.

I remember starting my son on his potty training journey at around 20 months. He seemed to be doing well until my divorce started and we moved out. His pediatrician’s comment to me was that it was about control; the change in his home life made him feel less in control, so he would control what he could. I was assured he wouldn’t go to college in a diaper and he didn’t.

But this notion of control is confirmed by RN Sarah Johnson. ”Toddlers often fight toilet training because it gives them a feeling of being in control. Learning to use the bathroom coincides ith the developmental stage during which two and three-year-olds are starting to realize that they are individuals and not merely extensions of their parents,” she told Mom.com.

So with so much that seems to be working against you, how do you make that transition on how to potty train a boy? Here are our best tips on potty training boys.

The post 12 Potty-Training Hacks for Boys appeared first on Mom.com.

Girls tend to be easier when it comes to potty training, compared to boys. While every child has their own personality, girls tend to want to please more than boys and that makes it easier to incentivize them. But that isn’t to say that potty training girls is always easy.

Many of the basics for potty training a girl will be the same as with a boy. The main difference is that you don’t have to transition a girl into standing once she masters the sitting mode. Understanding your child’s natural tendencies is the first step in potty training. You want to take their lead on things.

“There are very few things kids must be in control of. Their bodies are one of them," child and relationship expert Dr. Fran Walfish explained to Mom.com. "If your child gets the idea that you are too invested in them becoming toilet trained, they will use it against you. The toddler phase of development is crucial for young girls (and boys) to claim themselves as separate beings from Mommy and Daddy.”

Here are our best tips on potty training girls.

The post 11 Potty-Training Hacks for Girls appeared first on Mom.com.

I found out I was pregnant with Baby #2 less than a month after my daughter turned two. I knew in the next nine months not only did we need to transition her to her “big girl” bed, but we also had to get her potty-trained. I was excited to hit those milestones, but at the same time it was extremely daunting to think about. But after months of hard work and patience, she was officially potty-trained and in her big kid bed – and we were ready to meet our son!

As a former preschool teacher, I knew to expect a potty regression when our son was born. I thought she would probably deal with a small regression, but I assumed it wouldn’t set back her progress very much. And we took every step we could to help her.

We made sure to set up a routine for her so that we could help her feel as normal as she could when we got home from the hospital. We signed her up for school (just two half-days) so she could have a break from our home and could get some time to socialize with other kids. We also spoke with her over and over again about what life would be like after her brother came home.

The post Pandemic Potty Regression Is Totally a Thing appeared first on Mom.com.